The face of integrity• Atty. Darlene Berberabe


By Büm D. Tenorio Jr. (The Philippine Star) | Updated June 29, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Integrity cannot be compromised — at all times.
Labor lawyer Darlene Marie Berberabe is governed by that dictum. And she keeps it sealed in her mind and heart — come what may.
As president and CEO of Home Development Mutual Fund, commonly known as PAG-IBIG Fund, Berberabe admits that lobbyists have knocked at her door, so to speak, a few times. But she is unfazed. Her moral moorings are intact.
“I send a strong message that as head of PAG-IBIG Fund, I am mandated to protect the money of the people and to make sure that they get the right services due them,” says Berberabe who finished Law at the University of the Philippines in 1999, graduating salutatorian. She took up BA Philosophy also from UP, summa cum laude with an average of 1.13. It was from the same university where she finished her Master of Arts in Philosophy.
Berberabe reveals that the PAG-IBIG Fund has total assets of P350 billion. This fund is generated from the mandatory monthly P100-contribution of each of its 13.8 million members. Formed in 1978, PAG-IBIG Fund is the government’s answer “to the need of people for a national savings program and an affordable shelter financing for the Filipino workers.” Aside from housing loans, members of PAG-IBIG can also avail themselves of calamity loans or multi-purpose loans.
“In my three and a half years in office, I thought I was going to be fired three times, too, because there were projects or programs that some people wanted me to adopt but which I thought were not favorable for PAG-IBIG Fund,” admits Berberabe, daughter of former Batangas City Mayor Conrado Berberabe and Dr. Luz Basco-Berberabe.
She has the habit of saying “no” to things that are not beneficial to the financial institution she works for. She also has an “order” from Vice President Binay, chairman of PAG-IBIG Fund, to say “no” to him if she feels his views run counter to the integrity of the institution. Binay, by the way, was the one who submitted Berberabe’s curriculum vitae to Malacañang in 2010.  Berberabe, who was that time the chief legal officer of Proctor & Gamble Philippines, had been finalizing her deal with P&G Singapore for an expat position when the offer to serve the government came.
“It’s okay with me to give up the perks and the big pay check. Hindi naman ako matakaw at hindi ako malakas kumain,” she said rather philosophically. She’s content that she has her own house and car. Her simple joys can also be found in watching movies of Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz or the recently concluded teleserye The Legal Wife. But she is in her happiest state when she shares her life with her 17-year-old daughter Jamie Christine Lim. 
In her office, she is known to return largesse — from a painting by a master to bags of suman — from developers. “You accept that and you open the doors of corruption,” she says. She also refuses to get herself a condo unit because the minute condo owners learn about her intent, they give her almost a 100-percent discount. “I’m not very, very comfortable with that,” she adds.
Her level of integrity at PAG-IBIG Fund has not gone unnoticed. Last year, she received the Asia CEO of the Year Award for Public Sector Leadership. It was also in 2013 when the TOWNS Foundation awarded her as one of The Outstanding Women in Nation’s Service for government service.
“It’s privilege enough to serve the government. I don’t need bribes,” she ends.

Photography by SHAIRA LUNA of At East | Jed Root • Creative direction by LUIS ESPIRITU JR. • Styling by MIKKA VELASQUEZ • Makeup by SARI CAMPOS • Hairstyling by RHOY CERVANTES • Lilac lace dress and blush tulle dress with appliqué both by JOEL ESCOBER available at MYTH, Greenbelt 5 • Jewelry by MILADAY JEWELS • Shot on location at SOLAIRE RESORT & CASINO’s RED LANTERN

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